Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (29 page)

“A
dorable, if I do say so myself. I adapte
d a Dresden Plate pattern, and
pieced
it with colo
rful flowers and butterflies.” Beaming, s
he opened her purse and pass
ed around a picture
.

We all oohed and
aahed
over the gorgeous creation. I gave the ph
oto back to Thelma.
The purpose of our visit continued to cause a knot
in the pit of my stomach.
But we had hit the notorious dead end.

Julia
looked behind her
, so
I
glanced over my shoulder. Phil Larson, the owner of the barbershop on Main Street
, had come in and hopped on
a stool. Julia maneuvered
out of the booth and scurried
behind the counter. “Hey, Phil. How’s it going?” She filled his mug with the dark steamy liquid.
The afternoon sun cast
strobes
through the windows.

I had no idea
what Phil said before he pulled a drink over the brim of his cup.
But
the sudden concern on
Julia
’s face
lit
er
a
l
l
y pulled me to
the outer edge of the booth’s seat.

Maggie touche
d my hand. “Phil says something tragic has happened.”

Julia
went arou
nd and climbed on a stool
next to him. Maggie and Thelma joined them
, and I took Julia’s place on the other
side
of the
counter, so I could keep up with the conversation.

“Eli Simms was in earlier. And right
smack
in t
he middle of his haircut, his wife
called
him on his cell
.
H
e reached for his phone,
so
I stepped back to give him a little space
.
But I’ll tell you,
when he finished the call
and told me what
had
happened,
I don’t believe
I’ve ever heard anything sadder
.”

Julia put her hand on his
arm. “Get to the point
,
Phil
.”

“Claire told Eli, while he sa
t right there in my chair, told her
their n
iece Lilyan
had
killed herself
.” Phil
took another slug of his
coffee
. “Committed suicide while a patient in the psychiatric ward of Mariner Bay Hospital.
”

Jul
ia
’s mouth drooped
as she
shook h
er head. “
Poo
r Claire. I’m g
oing to close early and go see
about
her.”

My apprehension
turned to
disbelief.
Without a word, Maggie
and I both
stood
and trailed
out the door
.
We
rushed to
he
r
shop
.
Linda
contorted her face
. “What’s the matter?”
She eyed
Mag
gie. “You’re
bone white
.”

“
C
lose up the shop
, and lock up when you leave
. Please.
”
M
aggie
sat at
the lace-
draped
table where we’d
shared
many
a cup of tea. I dropped
in
to
the wing
chair across from her.

Before she left
,
L
inda came over
and touched Maggie’s shoulder. “If there is anything I can do, call me. Anytime.”

Maggie
reached up and
placed her hand on Linda’s. “Thanks. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Lin
da flipped the sign
to
Closed
and left through the door we had only moments ago entered.

Maggie’s eyes glistened with tears
. “If only she’d gotten help sooner.”

“
F
rom the angst
I saw in Logan
, he’s blaming himself
, at least to some extent
.”

“It’s obvious there were
deep-
seat
ed issues in
Lilyan
’s life—problems
not involving you or my brothe
r.”
Maggie’s chest rose and fell.
“I need to focus e
lsewhere until we hear from Logan
.
Tell me about your session with Dr. Ellie.
”

“
You were right about her.
She’s
easy to talk to,
like
chatting with a
friend. And I adored her cottage
.
A much better settin
g for counseling than a stark office.
”

“I h
elped her redecorate
it
.
” Maggie swiped at her eyes with a tissue.
“
She
wanted it to have a relaxed
,
beachy feel.
”

“
Anne
’s apartment—did you help with it?”

She shook her head.
“A
ll Anne. S
he
shared
sample
swatches
with me, and asked for my
o
pinion here and ther
e. B
ut it was her vision and she carried it out.
” Even through her red-rimmed eyes, she
beam
ed with pride.

“The furniture, did it come from your shop?”

“
Only a few items
.
I
assume
d
the other pieces were
family heirlooms.
” She flicked
invisible crumbs from the lace tablecloth with the edge of her hand
.

“I know this is
a little out there. It’ll take Logan a while to get back from Mariner Bay. I though
t it might give
us enough time to go
see
my g
randparents
.”

From her hesita
tion, I expected her to refuse.
“
It’s better t
han
sitting here waiting. You want me to drive
?”

I sighed in relief.
“
Yes. Thank you for going with me.
”

“No problem. Like I said, it beats waiting.”

“What if they refuse to talk to me?” I folded down the visor and checked my makeup, knowing we were almost there. I flipped up the mirror as Maggie stopped at a red light and glanced at me.

“Then you’ll keep searching for a way to reach them.”

She
turn
ed
onto
White Lane. According to Anne’s will
,
it was my grandparents’ street. I was curious—would John see Anne in me? “Do you think seeing me will cause him to have a change of heart?”

“We’ll know soon enough.” She made a left onto a long gravel driveway.

Two dogs surrounded the convertible
warning
us to stay put. “
I hope Goldie doesn’t get too upset
.”

A man stepped out on
the front porch. “
Shall we brave the war?” Maggie pulled the door handle.

I swallowed hard. “Stay
,
Goldie. I’ll be right back.”
I gradually opened my door and stepped out.
I wanted to
run, far away.

“Hi, John.” Maggie continued to where he stood.

“This your brother’s version of
sending in the cavalry?” He kept his hand on
the screen door.

“I brought your granddaughter to visit you.”

“I
already
told your
brother that
Liz and I don’t have grandchildren. Now leave before I let these hounds do
their job.” He went inside allowing
the screen to bang behind him.

“John, I’m Samantha.
You’re my grandfather
.” In answer
,
he slammed the front
door behind the screen. I stared after him,
wishing I had the words to reach him
.

We kept the
dogs
in sight as we slowly moved to the car. “A wasted trip.”
I reached into the back seat and reassured Goldie everything was fine.

Maggie maneuvered onto the road.
She stopped on the shoulder of the road and turned toward me.
“Don’t give up. I’m positive he had a shock of
déjà vu
—like seeing Anne when she was your age.”

“He’s my grandfather—I wanted to talk to him, to meet my grandmother. Why does he hate me?”
Had m
y coming to Serenity Cove
only added to the sorrow of losing their daughter
?

“He’ll come around—you’ll see.” She eased back onto the street.
The coastal road was covered with
a lat
e afternoon haze
. A pod of pelicans flew over the waves
and the air smelled like rain.
Carri
ed away with my own thoughts, I was surprised
when Maggie stopped the car behind the shops.

“
Why don’t you come
on
over to the bookshop? We
can talk while I finish up a few things
.
I want
to make an appointme
nt with a realtor.” I held
the door lever
. “
I’m
sell
ing
the
book
shop.
”

“
I’ve
been hop
ing
you’
d
reopen it
.
We
could be kindred business women.
”
Her laughter conflicted with h
er express
ion. Apparently
,
the comment
wasn’t
in jest
.

“I
considered it, for about two
minutes
.
If I had a bucket list, running a bookstore wouldn’t be on it.
”
Goldie nudged me
from the back seat and
wiggled
as though
she was about to
cross her legs and do a jig
.
“S
he
needs to go
, now
.”
I laugh
ed at her little furry
antics.

Maggie grin
ned and we both climbed out. She
watched Goldie pla
yfully visit her haunts before turning toward me
.
“
I think I’ll
go home. I need some
time to myself to take this all in. I may even stop and talk with
Dr.
Ellie.
”

“You know I’m here if you need me, right
?” I said, giving her a hug
.
“Thanks for going with me.”

“No problem. Text me if you hear from Logan
, and I’ll do the same.”
Maggie
’s
tires kicked up dust as she drove away.

I k
new where Maggie was coming from—a chance to
absorb it all
.
I searched
my bag
for my keys
and called to Goldie.

Inside the bookshop,
at Anne’s desk
, my t
houghts triggered more questions
about the woman who once sat here
. Why had Anne
never married
? Had
she
limped through life?
W
as she happy?
Who was this person—my birth mother
?
With a push of my foot, I rolled the wooden banker’s chair away from the desk
.
“Baby. L
et’s go upstairs.”